Daniel B.
Yelp
I would suggest Sabor Inka to anyone looking for tasty Peruvian food. The food was very good and the servers were friendly. They contributed to the restaurant's family-like atmosphere.
I haven't been to many authentic Peruvian restaurants in metro Atlanta. Costa Verde in Norcross and the now-closed Machu Picchu in Brookhaven are a couple that come to mind. I thought Costa Verde was excellent and Machu Picchu was good. Sabor Inka falls somewhere in between.
We visited for Sunday lunch and the restaurant was very busy. This is a popular place, especially with families. It's a casual sit-down restaurant with seating in the dining room for (I guesstimate) 60-80 customers. There's a bar in the back and TVs mounted on the walls (during our visit, they were playing soccer). The dining room and bar share a single space and there's really not much decor to speak of. The interior does feel a *little* old and dated.
The restaurant has a sizable spiral-bound menu filled with large, high quality pictures of some of the dishes. The food is described as "home-style" Peruvian cuisine. They have starters like the popular papa rellena (deep-fried potato filled with seasoned beef, $6) and anticucho de corazon (heart skewers, $11), salads ($7-10 each), soups like parihuela (large Peruvian seafood soup, $17), specialties like cau cau (Peruvian tripe stew, $12), different varieties of ceviche ($14-21 each), and various fish, seafood, vegetarian, steak, and chicken entrees like lomo saltado (sauteed beef tenderloin, $15) and tacu tacu de pollo (Peruvian chicken dish made with white rice, white beans, and vegetables, $15). Desserts include items like crema volteada (Peruvian creme caramel, $5) and mazamorra morada (Peruvian purple corn pudding, $5).
A lunch menu is available Monday-Friday, 11:30am-4:00pm. You can get various sandwiches as well as chicken, fish, and steak entrees for $8.00-9.50 per order.
Unique non-alcoholic drinks include South American sodas like Inca Kola and Kola Inglesa (both Peruvian) and Postobon and Colombiana (Colombian). There's chicha morada, which is a homemade Peruvian purple corn juice - we saw families ordering this by the jar ($12 for a jar, $7/half jar, $2.50/glass) - and various juices (papaya, soursop, guava, etc. for $3/glass). And they have beer and all sorts of colorful Peruvian and classic cocktails ($8-12 each).
Here's what I tried:
Apps:
* Rachi ($7) - grilled tripe seasoned in Peruvian spices and served with a fried potato
* Causa de pollo ($8) - mashed potato in lime juice and yellow Peruvian pepper layered with chicken, topped with avocado
Entrees:
* Pollo saltado ($14) - chicken strips sauteed with soy sauce, red onion and tomato in a wok; served with white rice and fries
* Chaufa de pollo ($11) - Peruvian-style fried rice; chicken strips sauteed with white rice, green onions, scrambled eggs, and soy sauce
* Ceviche Inka (mixed version, $21) - ceviche, fresh lime juice, red onions, cilantro, and rocoto pepper, topped with fried calamari; served with sweet potato, fried Peruvian corn and white Peruvian corn
Drinks:
* Chicha morada (glass, $2.50)
* Passion fruit juice ($3)
In general, presentation was good and portion sizes were generous.
The stars of the show were the rachi and the ceviche Inka. They were absolutely delicious. I recommend them both. Tripe can be hit or miss. The rachi was a hit. The tripe was sliced, seasoned, and fried. It was unexpectedly flavorful and addictive with an appetizing consistency. If you're not a fan of tripe, this dish might turn you into one.
My fiancee could not stop talking about how great she thought the ceviche was. It was certainly the biggest serving of ceviche I've had with fresh ingredients all around. The lime juice was the best part. It was cold and tangy and was perfect with the fish, squid, and mussel. The more marinated the ingredients got, the better it tasted. The large-kernel Peruvian corn was a nice and interesting touch with the crispy, crunchy fried corn being a welcome contrasting texture.
The causa de pollo was yummy. It looked a lot like a dessert, but was actually a savory app. It tasted a lot like potato/chicken salad in flavor, consistency, and temperature. It's one of Sabor Inka's several cold apps.
The chaufa de pollo is one of the restaurant's top sellers and was recommended by our server. While it's described as "Peruvian-style fried rice," I don't think it's that different than "standard" fried rice. It was well-made, though salty. While it was certainly comforting and satisfying, in hindsight, we probably would have been happier exploring other more Peruvian items on the menu.
The pollo saltado was disappointing. While the quality of the ingredients was fine, I thought the chicken was too dry and not flavorful enough. I'm guessing the lomo saltado would have been the better choice here.
The chica morada was quite good. It tastes like a mildly sweet fruit juice with a somewhat rich mouthfeel. Try it!